A Left Behind Mutation
by RainRunnerStorme
Summary: In the blink of an eye, millions of people and all children around the world disappear. It has been two years since Fang left Max. With half the flock left, they must face the world's last days together. I suck at summaries, but it is pretty awesome!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Max's POV

11:00 PM

I slam the phone back in its cradle. What is her problem? Okay, yes, I love my mom. But now she's completely lost it. She keeps trying to push me into this.

"I can't make you believe, it's your choice," she had said. If it was my choice, then why is she being so persistent? I know you didn't ask, but this is what happened.

I was in a perfectly good mood. Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge were all sound asleep in their rooms. Dylan was crashed on the couch (THANKFULLY), and Iggy was watching TV in his room. After checking on everybody, I hopped in the shower. When I got out, the phone started ringing. I picked it up, and to my surprise, it was my mom! We had been having our "talks" about things, and they have all ended the same way.

"Hey, Mom," I said casually.

"Hi Honey," she replied.

"What's up?" I asked, afraid to even ask, because I knew what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry for what happened the other day," Mom said.

"Forget about it," I responded.

"I just wanted to tell you that if something happens, soon," she began, "I love you. I wish I could come see you, but all of the flights are full, and—"

"So wait," I interrupted , as much as I hate doing that to her, "You're calling me to tell me that you love me, because you think the world is going to end soon, and you've lost hope that I'm going to come with you?"

"I didn't say that—"

"You _did_ say that! You've been saying that for a month now! Just forget it! I'm supposed to save the world, not watch it die! Religion has nothing to do with it!" I stopped, realizing how far I'd gone, how someone might hear… I take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Mom," I said through gritted teeth. "I love you too. I'm glad this religion thing is working out for you, but it's… It's not for me. Please just leave me out of it."

"I'm not trying to force you into anything," Mom said. "I can't make the decision for you. But the feeling is getting stronger every day. The signs are everywhere. Something is going to happen soon."

"And you've called to tell me good-bye. That makes so much sense." I sighed. I hate to be so rude to her, but what she's trying to tell me about is just crazy. Well, that's what I try to get myself to think. I think I know, deep inside, that it's true, I just don't want to believe it. I can't believe it. I have too many other things to worry about. Leading the flock, saving the world, Fang, Dylan, all that good stuff. I don't have time for this kind of thing.

"Max…" Mom breathes.

"Mom, I gotta go. Bye."

Before she could answer, I slammed the phone down, and that's where I am now. I sit on my bed, debating whether I should pick up that bat and beat the wall with it and wake everybody up or try to swallow it all down and control my rage. Controlling my rage usually isn't part of the deal.

Instead, I find myself opening the window and flying out into the night air. The wind blows across my face, through my hair and feathers, and I'll admit, it feels good. While it lasts.

"Hello, Beautiful," Dylan says from above me, getting way too close to my back, our wings touching each other while they flap.

I drop down about a foot and turn almost upside down, while my foot flies and hits Dylan in the mouth. He doesn't even wince or act hurt. Quickly, Dylan drops down in front of me and I would have crash into him if it weren't for my fast reflexes.

"Dylan, go away," I say sternly.

He laughs. "Why? You need some alone time?"

"You got a problem with that?"

"No, no," he says, chuckling.

"Good. Then go die in a hole."

"Hey now, no need to get feisty." He grins.

I raise my brows at him. "What!" Then I decide, before he can answer, that I'm gonna smash his face in. So I fly toward him and throw a punch, but he deflects it immediately. I'm pretty sure I taught him that. We continue fighting, but he doesn't stop once.

I kick him out into the night sky, then begin to fly backwards, watching him, but getting farther away at the same time. But Dylan doesn't come back up this time. He continues to fall, and for once I'm surprised that he doesn't get up. Did I really kick him that hard? Before I can think of an answer, he comes back up and charges toward me. Fast. Before he gets near close to me though, he slows down, but he doesn't stop. When he reaches me, he puts two hands out and holds my face while he… kisses me.

For a minute I'm so surprised that I don't do anything, even though I should be ripping his face off right about now. Dylan lets go and flies off, laughing, while I fall. Come on, Max, get ahold of yourself! I think. I flip out my wings and catch myself, reality hitting me. _He just KISSED ME!_ Now I'm mad. Where the hell did he go? I'm gonna kill him!

I look around, but Dylan is nowhere in sight. Trying to control my anger, I turn around and fly as fast as I can, past all of the other birds, cooling off, back to the house. I pass over a few houses, and hear car crashes and sirens. Hmm… I wonder what that is… Eh, probably some drunk kids. I breath, in, out, then before I know it, I'm back. I grab hold of the house to help me up, then I hop through the open window and slam it shut so Dylan can't get in through here. I bet he heard the whole conversation between me and my mom. That [bad Max]!

Slowly, I climb into bed and slow my breathing. It takes forever, but I finally manage to get to sleep.

When I wake up, it is still dark outside. I look at my clock, trying to remember where I've been this time. It is four o'clock in the morning. Hmm… I slightly recall there being a bird I was flying with. It was black, and a second one was white. I don't remember anything else. I lie back prostrate and try to go back to sleep, but it doesn't work. I am fully awake. Sighing, I sit up.

I walk down the hall to the kitchen, and look for something to eat. After scanning some options over in my head, I take out a cereal bar and start taking the wrapping off of it. I sit at the counter for a few hours, thinking, waiting. Every minute seems like an hour. At seven, Iggy finally comes in. Huh. That's weird… Usually Angel is the second one up. "Morning, Iggy," I say.

"Hey Max," he replies, pulling out some cereal from the cabinet, pouring it into a bowl, then milk on top of it, not spilling a drop. He puts the milk in the exact place it was in the refrigerator. How he does that, for a blind guy, I do not know. He picks up his bowl and begins taking it to the table, when he freezes. He looks at me. "Where's Angel?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering that myself," I reply. "Maybe we should go check on her."

"Nah, let her sleep," Iggy says. "I'm sure she'll wake up in a few minutes."

I nod, then remember Iggy can't see me nod. "Right," I say. So we wait.

Next in line comes Dylan. I purposely ignore him, but that can only last so long…

"You look tired," Dylan says, sitting way too close to me.

I push him out of his chair. "Shut up" is all I can think of to retort.

We wait some more. An hour later, I decide I can't take it anymore. I stand up and walk to Nudge and Angel's room. Nudge is under her covers, snoring away, and Angel is… not there? Her bed is unmade, which is unusual, but nothing is under it. I sit on her bed, and feel around. Something is under the covers, but it doesn't feel like her. Carefully, I take the sheets and whip them back, revealing… Angel's nightgown.

I stare at it, confused, bewildered. The dress is in a position that looks like it's sleeping. As if Angel just… disappeared out of her clothes… I slowly turn to Nudge. She's still here, obviously. The sheets rise and fall as she snores. I walk toward her bed and whip back the sheets, divulging Nudge, slowly reaching consciousness. "Max…?"

I ignore her, my eyes wide, and walk down the hallway to Gazzy and Iggy's room. I pull back Gazzy's sheets and find his pajamas under them, also in a position that looks like he was sleeping and disappeared out of his clothes. Right under his pillow lies his necklace, with little beads on a leather strip.

Down the hall, Nudge screams. I turn around quickly, starting for her room. Nudge stands by Angel's bed, Angel's nightgown in her hands. "Max, what's going on?"

I shake my head. "I don't know."

"Max!" comes Dylan's voice from downstairs. "Get in here, girl, this is crazy!"

If I'm not in so much in shock as I am I would've cussed him out for saying just that, but I don't have the strength to say anything right now. I walk downstairs, and slip on the second to last step, but I stand and walk on. Dylan has the remote in his hand, standing in front of the TV, watching the news.

"…Evidence of the mass disappearances that occurred in every country at approximately midnight, Eastern Standard Time . . ." A wave of dizziness hits me. Disappearances? In every country? "Here again," the newsman said, "is one of the strangest images we have received from this phenomenon no one can explain. This was shot by the uncle of a soccer game at a missionary boarding school in Indonesia. Watch as the players race down the field. In slow motion now, watch all but one player disappears. Their uniforms float to the ground as the ball bounds away and the sole remaining player stops and stares in horror. Watch as the cameraman keeps the video rolling and turns from side to side, showing he is one of the few adults remaining, the rest have all disappeared right out of their clothes," he says all as a video is shown of exactly what he said.

Oh. My. God.

So this is what happened to Angel and Gazzy? They disappeared?

Mom!

I quickly run to the phone and dial her number. It doesn't even ring before a voice comes on, saying the lines are full, and asking if it's important. I answer a quick YES and demand to talk. Iggy raises a brow and I wave him off. It doesn't ring. I dial again and again, breaking one of the buttons in while doing so, and finally it rings. Once. Twice. Three times. "Come on!" I yell at the phone. Finally, someone picks up the phone.

"Max?"

I almost shout Mom's name in joy, but my voice catches in my throat as I take in the voice. That doesn't sound like my mom…

"Who is this?" I demand.

"It's Jeb."

"Jeb! What are you doing at my mom's house? Actually, don't answer that. Is she there? Is she okay? Is Ella still there?"

Jeb takes a breath. "No, Max. I'm sorry. All of the children under the age of 12 have all disappeared, and thousands of adults and teenagers have disappeared everywhere. Your mother and sister have disappeared. There are wrecks everywhere, from where people have disappeared out of their cars, houses burnt to the ground because they had something burning and no one was there to turn it off. Turn on the news—"

The phone drops out of my hands. I can't breathe.

"Max?" Nudge asks from the stairs.

I want to tell her I'm fine, but I'm not.

"Max?" Jeb's voice comes from the phone on the floor. I don't dare pick it up. But Nudge does.

"Hello?" she says through it, turning it on speaker mode, so we can all hear.

"Max, are you there?" Jeb asks.

"Here," I groan.

"Do you need me to come over there? I figure Angel and The Gasman are gone, right? And Nudge?"

"No," Nudge says, "I'm here."

"Right, you're thirteen," Jeb says, thinking aloud. "So do you need anything? All of the lines are busy, so I'd guess this is the last time we'll talk for a while. Should I come to your house?"

"No!" I shout, finally coming to my senses. "Don't come! We're fine! "

"It's really dangerous out there, Max," he replies. "Just watch your back."

"What about your speech about me saving the world? You're not going to forget that, are you?"

"I haven't forgotten. I just… don't know how you're supposed to help it right now," Jeb admits.

"Okay…" I reply, not expecting him to say that at all. Kinda makes me a little lost for words. "Is that all?"

"Look for your friends. Try to find out what's going on. I will do that also."

"Great. You do that. But I already have an idea of what's going on. And I think I'm right."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I've been sick all week so I haven't had time to write. What do you guys think so far? Reviews will make me happy! :) **

Chapter Two

Kate's POV

11:00 PM

"Come on, Kate!" Ratchet calls from the car.

"I don't really want to go," I reply from the porch.

"What do you mean you don't want to go?" Maya (Clone Max) asks. "Everybody else is going!"

"So? What difference does that make?" I ask. "There's just a bunch of people getting drunk. It doesn't make you cool, guys, it makes you look stupid. Plus what does it gain? Nothing."

"Okay, okay, whatever," Ratchet replies, giving up, stepping on the petal. "I guess you're home alone then!"

"I'm fine with that," I whisper to myself, watching them drive off, Fang eyeing me from the front seat. Sighing, I walk back inside. We've been a team for two years now, and I haven't found any faith in them. I feel alone. I ask them about what they think of the Bible, and all I got were a bunch of negative responses, and some insults to me for asking and believing it's true. The only reason I asked is because I've been getting a feeling that I'm running out of time.

I plop down on the couch with some ice cream and turn on the TV. The clock ticks by. Time seems to be getting faster and faster, even though the tick of the clock seems normal. I finish off my ice cream and walk to my bed, picking up a Bible. I stare at it for a few minutes, a little afraid to open it. I run my hand along the bookmarks I inserted in the verses I've found most interesting. Finally, I flip it open and see where I am.

1 Chronicles 29:12 is highlighted. I read, "Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength." To the side, in pen is my handwriting, reading STRENGTH.

I begin to turn to the next bookmark, when a hint of gold catches my eye. Gold? In my Bible? I flip back to the page. There, on the page, in golden letters reads "But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in time of famine." Then the gold disappears, and the verse returns to its original state. I look at the top and look at the book and verse. Psalm 33:18-19.

I read on past the golden lettering. "We put our hope in the Lord. He is our hope and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone."

Huh.

I grab my highlighter from under my bed and highlight the whole thing, especially the pre-golden letters, and bookmark the page, then flip to the next bookmark.

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

Philippians 4:6 "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done, Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I close the book. It's hard to breath. I feel like something tight is around my chest, like a little girl trying to hug me to death. But it's something bigger than that. Tears fill my eyes. I look toward the bathroom, then take a bolt for it. I slam and lock the door, then turn around and vomit into the toilet. Eww...

Five minutes later, after I've cleaned up, I step into the shower. I still can't breathe very well. The words I just read echo in my head. "The Lord watches over those who fear him, who rely on his unfailing love. He rescues those from death and rescues them in times of famine." I sit down and begin to cry, the water trickling down my face and off my nose and chin.

"Please God," I cry, "Give them another chance. They're good people, they don't deserve to go to hell. They don't deserve to be left behind. They're my friends. Everybody messes up, they just don't get it. Please, there has to be something!"

Silence replies.

When I get out I sit back on my bed and flip open my Bible again to the next bookmark, then look at the clock. 11:59 PM. Shaking my head, I continue to read 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17: "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be called up to the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever."


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back! Well, of course I'm back. You're reading this. Heheh. Well, I've been busy with a LOT of homework and stuff 'cause I've been sick. But, due to the giant snowstorm that you may or may not have, I've been snowed in! So I got to write a lot. Yippee. I should probably just let you read. All right, here you go.**

**WAIT! Haha, I am holding you from reading again! Anyway, I want to make something exiting happen! So if you think this isn't exiting enough, SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN VERY SOON! And it will probably be Maximum Ride related. Yippee again. But it may not be in this chapter.**

**Also, if I haven't said this in the last few chapters, I apologize: I do not own Maximum Ride or Left Behind or anything else that you may have heard of in the stories. I do own a few other things though. Haha. Reviews will make my day! And I need a better day. So be nice. :P**

Chapter Three

Fang's POV

11:35 PM

I kind of feel bad for leaving Kate behind, but then again I feel kind of bad I did go. I didn't really want to, but I'm a no-talk kinda guy. If someone wants me to do something, I find it hard to say no. I'm kind of getting the hang of it, though, being the leader of this band of children. x]

So yes. I don't like being here! It's loud, and full of drunk teenagers, which not only makes me claustrophobic, but disgusted. Yeah, I should've said no.

"Hey," Star says, standing next to me by the wall. "What you doing?"

"Wishing I had stayed with Kate," I reply. "This is annoying."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I reply, taking a glass bottle from her hand and throwing it against the wall.

Star frowns. "What'd you do that for?"

"Can't you see yourself?" I ask. "You look like an idiot. Come on, we're leaving."

"Fang!" she yells.

"Ratch!" I call toward the other room.

Ratchet pokes his head from the other room and looks at Fang.

"We're leaving."

"Dude, come on!" Ratchet complains. "We've only been here for like…" he trails off.

"Yeah. Come on." Then I practically have to drag him out of the house, the others noticing and following, thankfully.

"Did we—did we really have to just leave?" Ratchet asks, obviously high.

"Yeah, Ratchet, we did," I say, Ratchet reaching for the drivers door. "No, let me drive."

"Why do you get to drive?"

"'Cause you're drunk. You'll kill us."

"I won't kill you," Ratchet complains.

"Just shut up and get in the car," Maya groans.

Fifteen minutes later, we're still on the road and Ratch is still high, mumbling to himself, while I try to ignore him and focus on the road. I still suck at driving, but I've been doing better. As usual, I occupy myself by thinking.

About five minute later, Star, who's sitting beside me in the navigation seat, gasps. "Fang!" she yells. I look up, and notice the car in front of us has stopped. I slam on the breaks, but it's too late—I crash into it. The car behind us crashes into us. The airbag deploys, whiplashing my head.

For a stunned moment, I can't do anything. I wait for the airbag to cool off and then see what I can do. "Everyone alright?" I ask.

"Oww," Ratchet groans, holding his nose. "Yeah, you won't let me drive 'cause I'll kill somebody."

I ignore him and check out everybody.

Maya holds the back of her head. "I'm fine."

Star holds her arm. When she removes it to examine what happened, I notice her wrist is bent at an unnatural angle and all along her arms are minor friction burns. "What happened to you?" I ask.

"I stopped it," she replies.

"Stopped what?"

"The airbag."

"Impressive."

Star turns to me, then her eyes widen. "What happened to _you_?"

For once I think of my own injuries. The side of my face hurts, my head hurts from the whiplash, and I'm pretty sure my arm is broken. I flip down the visor and look at the mirror. The whole left side of my face is caked with blood from an unidentifiable cut that feels somewhere around my temple. "Anyone else bleeding?"

"Not really."

"Okay then," I say, reaching down to grab a box of Kleenexes. "I figure it'll be a while before we're moved, so do any of you mind?"

"No, Fang, don't worry about us," Star says, pushing the airbag back into its place with her uninjured hand.

So I take some Kleenexes out and wipe most of the blood away, trying to stop the bleeding. When I've got most of it taken care of, I sigh and turn on the radio. I flip through stations looking for music, but all have been turned to the same station. Weird…

"...Disappearances seem to be reported all around the world. Every child, gone, and thousands of adults and teens seem to have disappeared right out of their clothes. Car wrecks have occurred everywhere from people disappearing while driving, killing even more people…"

Star looks at me, terrified.

"Is that what just happened?" Maya asks.

"Guess so…" I reply slowly. All I can think of is Max. Evert child? Are Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge gone? Has the whole flock disappeared?

"How could they have reported that that fast?" Star asks.

"I don't know."

"It said it was reported all over the world. Must be pretty catastrophic."

"Yeah…"

"So," I start, "what do we do now? Should we stick around for the police? Or run?"

"Run."

"But what about my car?" Ratchet whines.

"We'll leave it," I reply. "If it's still here when all of this is cleared up, we'll drive it back."

"I don't see why you would want to," Maya says softly. "It's a piece of crap now. It'll take more money to fix this thing than to buy a new one."

"Okay then," Star says. "Then let's go." She opens her car door, and steps out.

The rest of us follow.

"Now, which way is the house…?" Ratchet asks.

"That way," Maya replies, and begins walking that way.

"How do you know?"

"I just do okay?" Maya replies. "Now follow me."

Soon we approach a parking lot, where so many cars and even a semi are wrecked and bloodied people are freaking out. We're careful not to look at anybody or talk to anybody, stay in the shadows of the darkness, but we cancel that plan when a woman comes up to us. "Please!" she cries. "Please, help me! My baby! He's gone!"

"What?" Star asks.

But the woman had already moved on to somebody else. Star begins to walk away, but I stay and watch. A girl who looks about in her early twenties, maybe nineteen, with brown hair, who looks just about as scared as everyone walks up to the woman. "What's going on?" she asks.

"My baby! He just disappeared out of his car seat! There's only his clothes!" Then she begins mumbling some more cries to herself while the girl opens the car door and looks in the seat. She shuffles some things around in the baby's seat before getting out and running a hand through her hair. She begins to shut the door, when something catches her eye.

"Hey!" she shouts toward a direction. "Hey that's my car!"

I look where she begins to run and see a very bloody man in a white Jeep throwing out a backpack and driving away. The girl sighs and whispers to herself, "Somebody just stole my car." Of course, I could only hear that because I am a mutant, and my senses are better than most. At least that's what I think…

The brunette picks up her backpack that got thrown out and pulls out her phone, dials a number and puts it to her ear, but then instantly shuts it. Something must be wrong with the lines. Sighing, she begins walking toward the woods, which just so happens to be in our direction.

I turn back to the Pack (which I have begun to call us) and we continue walking. The brunette starts walking near us, matching our pace. Maya glances toward her and begins to talk to her. "Have you lost somebody too?" she asks.

The girl looks sideways at her, then back down at her feet. "I don't know yet," she replies.

"Me either," Maya says. "What's your name?"

"Chloe."

"I'm Maya."

Chloe nods. After a few minutes of silence, Chloe starts a conversation. "Are you guys related or something?" she asks, slowly taking in our close ages and different appearances through the darkness.

Star looks at me.

"Uh, yeah," I reply. "Sort of."

Chloe looks at me inelegantly.

"We were adopted."

At a lame excuse, she seems to believe me. "That's cool."

"So, do you live around here?" Star asks, looking at Chloe in a caring but talkative way, and I am clouded by the thought of who that reminds me of. And then who that reminds me of. **(A/N: if you haven't read Maximum Ride, because this is a crossover, I will be nice. The talkative person is Nudge. Then that reminds him of Max, his girlfriend he hasn't seen in forever.):**

"Yeah, my neighborhood is just up the hill."

"Sorry, Chloe, but we gotta go this way," Maya says, dragging Star away as the rest of us turn toward the deeper woods.

"Okay," Chloe says, kicking a rock.

"It was nice talking to you! I'm Star by the way!"

Chloe slightly smiles and waves with her hand still on her backpack strap, then turns and makes a straight face, knowing I'm still watching her. She probably won't remember us if she saw us again.

About thirty minutes later, we approach the house, all run down and abandoned. We've fixed it up though, to power and electricity, to little refrigerators and a TV. We've been careful not to put anything on the outside, and keep the car hidden, so no one will know anyone lives here.

"Kate!" Star yells as she opens the door, then we all listen for her response. But the house sounds empty. "Kate!" Star yells again, then runs to the living room in search for her. We all seem to do the same. I quietly lurk down the hall and enter her room. Sure enough, on her be, are her night clothes and an open bible sits on her pillow. Behind me, the Pack slowly gathers around.

Star covers her mouth. "Kate's gone."

**How was this one? REVIEW! :D thanks!**


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